SAN DIEGO – For Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, an already exhausting week of preparation for Navy’s quirky triple-option offense spilled over into the wee hours of Saturday morning.

A two-hour drive up the road at Dodger Stadium, Kelly’s beloved Boston Red Sox needed a World Series-record seven hours and 20 minutes to lose Game 3. Even with the Midshipmen looming and an undefeated season on the line, Kelly sat transfixed in his hotel room.

“I watched all 18 innings,” Kelly said after a 44-22 win over Navy on Saturday night. “I’m a moron. I am a moron.”

Kelly, born in Everett, Mass., and raised in Chelsea, just north of Boston, was in a buoyant mood after watching his third-ranked Fighting Irish improve to 8-0 behind Ian Book’s 330-yard passing performance and a well-balanced attack that put up nearly 600 yards of total offense.

Dexter Williams rambled for 142 yards and three touchdowns but earned the game ball more for his blocking, Kelly said, especially in blitz pickup. Williams, working hard to become a more complete player, also caught three passes out of the backfield.

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Notre Dame safety Alohi Gilman, a Navy transfer, after making six tackles in 44-22 win over his former team
Mike Berardino, IndyStar

A couple of redshirt freshmen, road-grader left guard Aaron Banks and third-string linebacker Drew White, made the most of their opportunities, the latter coming when defensive captain Drue Tranquill went out with a high ankle sprain on Navy’s second series.

Tranquill, despite being carted off in dramatic fashion, was out of his walking boot by the time the Irish left for the team bus. Kelly wasn’t ruling out having his senior leader back out there next Saturday at Northwestern.

“It’s Drue Tranquill,” Kelly said of the second-leading tackler on his defense. “He may be jogging when we get back to the hotel. He’s just a unique individual. I wouldn’t count him out.”

Nor, as Kelly well knows, should his Red Sox ever be counted out, even after failing repeatedly to push across the winning run in a 3-2 marathon loss that tried his patience beyond belief.

“The 13th inning, and they don’t get the ball out of the infield?” he said in mock protest after concluding his postgame news conference. “They’re going to have a statue of (Nathan) Eovaldi next to (Red) Auerbach at Faneuil Hall. I’m serious.”

Kelly was just getting warmed up.

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Notre Dame running back Dexter Williams after rushing for 142 yards and three scores in 44-22 win over Navy
Indianapolis Star

“The second thing I learned is please put a runner on second base in the 10th inning,” he added, endorsing the game-shortening tactic now used in the minor leagues. “I had to nap this afternoon.”

As Kelly ranted good-naturedly, the Sox were putting the finishing touches on a Game 4 comeback win over the Dodgers. By climbing out of a 4-0 hole in the seventh, they put themselves one win away from a fourth World Series title in the past 15 seasons.

That’s not the four national titles in seven years the Irish claimed in the ‘40s, and it’s not even the five Heisman trophies in 14 years Notre Dame players won between 1943 (Angelo Bertelli) and 1956 (Paul Hornung).

But it’s still enough to fire up a former Assumption College linebacker with Red Sox memorabilia lining his office walls. Truthfully, Kelly is pretty juiced about his current football team as well, which keeps avoiding disaster as the rest of the college football landscape stumbles into landmines.

This week it was No. 7 Texas, No. 11 Florida and No. 13 Washington leading the way over the cliff.

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Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book breaks down his key 27-yard completion on third-and-10 in the fourth quarter of a 44-22 win over Navy.
Mike Berardino, IndyStar

Leave it to Navy coach Ken Niumatalolo, whose program knows the Irish as well as anybody due to their annual meetings, to explain the reason for this title run.

“There’s a great sense of focus on their team,” he said after the 92nd consecutive meeting between the schools. “They’re really good in a lot of different places. They’re ranked No. 3 for a reason. We’ve played coach Kelly’s team before. This is one of his better teams.”

Navy being Navy, a 27-0 gap was narrowed to two scores early in the fourth quarter when Book authored (sorry) one of the signature plays in his dazzling five-start opening salvo. Facing third-and-10 at midfield after a holding call on Banks, Book spun away from a stiff pass rush and bought some time as he calmly surveyed the field.

Jafar Armstrong, back after a three-game absence with an infected bursa sac in his knee, drew upon his former life as a wide receiver and kept seeking open space. Book ultimately hit him in stride along the right sideline for a 27-yard gain and maybe the biggest of the 10 third- and fourth-down conversions (in 18 total tries) for Notre Dame.

“That was a backbreaker,” Niumatalolo said. “He had a long time back there. Stayed alive, stayed alive. If we could have got a stop there, that would have been huge. He made that play.”

Week after week, the Irish are making just enough of them to keep their baseball-loving coach in a good mood.